Fran Lebowitz knows what she likes—and what she doesn’t like. For decades, the critic and essayist has been expressing her opinions, sometimes grouchily, always riotously. A New Yorker to the core, Lebowitz has raised straight talk to an art form, packaging her no-nonsense observations about the city and its denizens into a punchy running commentary.

Directed by Lebowitz’s longtime friend Martin Scorsese, the 7-part documentary series Pretend It’s a City is a double dose of NYC attitude that sparks pangs of delight, fury and recognition among those who love the place as deeply as they do.